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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28298133">"i'm cool!" and other lies chat noir tells himself</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/maketea/pseuds/maketea'>maketea</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>hotel suite/apartment superhero shenanigans [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Being an Idiot, Aged-Up Character(s), F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Implied Sexual Content, Pillow Talk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 01:01:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,139</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28298133</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/maketea/pseuds/maketea</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>chat noir is <i>cool</i>. totally, one-hundred percent cool.</p><p>ladybug doesn't agree. well, not exactly, anyway.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>hotel suite/apartment superhero shenanigans [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813561</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>326</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>"i'm cool!" and other lies chat noir tells himself</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>/posts another fucken pillow talk fic/ hello im back on my bullshit</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ladybug had been sat up for a long time.</p><p>When he'd first felt her move, he'd thought she was just trying to get comfy. Then he had the rather paranoid thought that, in their tiny hotel suite, she'd seen something, and they would be punished for their naked crimes by some demon like all those stupid couples in horror movies. But then his common sense had kicked in, and he figured she might've just been checking her phone.</p><p>Which he was totally fine with. Obviously. Like, he wasn't <em> clingy, </em> he wasn't fourteen, anymore. He didn't even really care if he didn't fall asleep with the imprint of her body snuggled against his. Of course not. Absolutely not. In fact, he wouldn't even care if she just stayed on the other side of the bed all night. That'd be fine. It'd be cool. <em> He </em> was cool, totally not like those people who slept with their best friend once and suddenly expected wedding vows to be exchanged. </p><p>He was <em> cool </em>. Not just because he was naked and this two-star hotel room had a draught coming through.</p><p>And, like a cool person would do, Chat Noir decided to open his eyes — just to make sure that demon thing was most definitely not the case.</p><p>He did not find a demon. But Ladybug wasn't on her phone. </p><p>She wasn't really sat up, either, but rather <em> propped </em> up. She had lifted herself onto an elbow, her palm pressed to the side of her hair, which was dark and loose and surrounded her arm like a water fountain. They'd switched on the lamp on her side of the bed once they'd gotten here and were still yet to turn it off (he bet she was still afraid of the dark) — it softened the freckles on her nose and shoulders and made her smile look like honey, and <em> God </em> he wanted to press his face against her skin again.</p><p>She was watching him. Ladybug had been watching him while he tried to get to sleep.</p><p>She faced the eye contact unabashedly, saying nothing, as if he hadn't even opened his eyes in the first place. The most she did in wake of being discovered was make sure her plastic Ladybug mask was still intact on her face.</p><p>"Hello," he said. "Why are you being weird?"</p><p>She bit her lip. "Are you my boyfriend, now?"</p><p>Well.</p><p><em> That </em> certainly wasn't what he'd been expecting.</p><p>But, well, should it have been? After she'd kissed him in the middle of their movie (and started pulling at his shirt buttons, but he was trying to keep his brain in safer territory, for now) he'd been wondering the same thing. There hadn't been much talking in between kisses and sighs and taking turns to press each other against the bed sheets. All he could derive an answer from was assumption.</p><p>And he <em> assumed </em> she didn't feel that way about him. Until now.</p><p>He took in a deep breath, and hoped she didn't hear it tremble.</p><p>He was cool. He could be cool.</p><p>"'Boyfriend' is such a strong word," he said, and immediately wanted to tear his hair out. "You know, like, we could just go with the flow, you know? See where the waves take us, and stuff. 'Boyfriend'... 'girlfriend'... it's all so solid, you know?"</p><p>This was <em> cool </em> . It was <em> mysterious. </em> It was <em> poetic. </em> </p><p>Ladybug's eyebrows quirked. "So… you <em> don't </em>want to be my boyfriend?"</p><p>"Just go with the flow, dude, you know? It's all about the journey."</p><p>He had <em> never </em> called Ladybug <em> dude </em> . But, at the same time, he'd never tasted her collarbone before that night, either. Maybe this new, cool Chat Noir called Ladybug <em> dude </em>.</p><p>Her face did something odd. The whole night, from their first kiss to when she had been gazing up at him, coronated with a crown of her black hair strewn around her pillow, her face had been <em> radiant </em>. It had glowed, not just because of the lamp, nor the creamy bed sheets, but she had been glowing from within, as if she had swallowed a drop of sunshine and now held a piece of that radiance forever.</p><p>But as he spoke now, the radiance vanished. The sparkle in her eyes fizzled out. The smile made of honey melted away. And she was just Ladybug, now. His partner. She had collected her radiance and locked it back up, as if he had lost the privilege of basking in it.</p><p>She was still naked, flushed and sweaty and freckled. And yet, with that shift in her face, she may as well have transformed, placing that barrier between their heartbeats with an impenetrable superhero costume.</p><p>"Oh," she said. "Okay. Cool." </p><p>She removed her hand from her fountain of hair, placed herself back onto the mattress, then rolled over. Away from him.</p><p>Frankly, he didn't <em> feel </em> very cool.</p><p>He would've felt cool if she'd put her cold feet against his legs and grabbed for his hands and fell asleep with her forehead pressed to his chest. And if she'd kissed him again, and he could see for himself whether her smile tasted of honey as much as it looked it. And if he got to wake up tomorrow and make her a cup of tea, because he knew he was an early bird and knew she hated alarm clocks, and even if he didn't know how she liked her drinks, he would suppose he couldn't go wrong with two spoonfuls of sugar and his heart bared for her to take.</p><p>He would've felt cool if he'd been honest, and told her, yes, he wanted to be her boyfriend. In fact, it was the thing that had fixed him in a permanent state of want for the past four and a half years.</p><p>Honesty was cool. Ladybug being his girlfriend was cool.</p><p>Ladybug's bare shoulders and back, although objectively pretty cool, were <em> not </em> cool when he was seeing them because <em> she </em> didn't want to see <em> him </em>.</p><p>So he did something cool, to balance out all the uncoolness of tonight.</p><p>Her hair had parted when she had been propped up, leaving some of it draped over her cheek. Chat Noir shuffled over, and placed a little kiss at the exposed nape of her neck.</p><p>She shivered. "I'm tired. Can you wait until tomorrow?"</p><p>"It's important."</p><p>There was a pause. "Is this a <em> talking </em> thing or a <em> doing </em> thing?"</p><p>"Talking. But then, like, doing, if we hug at the end. Oh, you weren't talking about a hug, were you? I mean, it's <em> technically </em> a hug, right? A really long hug. And a really—"</p><p>"Chat Noir?"</p><p>"Yes?"</p><p>"You're rambling."</p><p>"Right. Sorry." He cleared his throat, like he was some voice-cracking fifteen-year-old about to give a speech at an assembly he was forced to do. "Being your boyfriend would be cool."</p><p>She snorted. "Didn't you say it'd be 'too solid'?"</p><p>Upon feeling the first spots of embarrassment on his cheeks, Chat Noir's instinctive reaction was to bury his face into Ladybug's hair. She didn't push him away, thankfully, but the fear that she would weighed heavily on his chest.</p><p>"But solid is good," he mumbled. "I like solid stuff. Like, you're really solid, and I really like you."</p><p>Another pause ensued. "Solid?"</p><p>"Yeah, like…" He glanced around for inspiration. "Your shoulders. No. Oh no. Don't listen to me. That was a bad example."</p><p>She shook with laughter. And, just as he was about to beat himself up for being the absolute polar opposite of cool, Ladybug turned around.</p><p>A sliver of radiance escaped through her eyes. She hadn't locked it up well enough.</p><p>Or maybe she'd done that on purpose. </p><p>Though she now faced him, she made no move to reach for him. Neatly, she folded her hands under her cheek.</p><p>"So, you like solid stuff," she said.</p><p>The spots of embarrassment had festered, and now he couldn't hide them. "Yes."</p><p>"And you think being boyfriend and girlfriend would be solid."</p><p>"I… said that." He was a millisecond away from phrasing it like a question.</p><p>"Hm."</p><p>Ladybug laced the edge of the pillowcase between her middle and index fingers, eyes not shut but lowered. For a while, she said nothing else. The minutes dragged on until his eyes grew heavy, what with the warmth coming off her like a radiator and her breaths almost like a lullaby, and he must have fallen asleep a bit, because when she next spoke, she jolted him awake with a gentle hand on his arm.</p><p>"You said '<em> too' </em> solid," she said.</p><p>"Hnhgh?" he replied intelligently.</p><p>But Ladybug didn't even blink. "You used the word 'too'. Why?"</p><p>He stared at a shimmer of sweat on her collarbone, just above where her hand clutched the bed sheets to her chest. If he focused on that, that little glossy part of her skin, he could keep his eyes open.</p><p>Sheepishly, he turned his face into his pillow. "I wanted you to think I was cool."</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"I wanted you to think I was <em> cool </em>."</p><p>She laughed. "Since when do you care whether I think you're cool or not?"</p><p>He opened one eye. "Since forever."</p><p>Ladybug went quiet.</p><p>Her gaze was steady while she looked at him, and, slowly, the surprise melted away from her face. Then, she gave him a curious smile, and lifted herself back onto her elbow. </p><p>He tried not to steal a lowerbound glimpse when the duvet shifted around her.</p><p>"Remember when we were fourteen?" she said, already grinning.</p><p>"No," he deadpanned. "I've blocked that year from my memory."</p><p>"Ah, well, I'd better remind you, right?"</p><p>"No, no, it's fine."</p><p>"Remember on our first patrol together when you figured out I was a cat person?" </p><p>"Nope."</p><p>"And— and you found that little stray walking around the rooftop?"</p><p>"I'm asleep. I can't hear you."</p><p>"And how you thought it'd— haha, you thought it'd impress me if you could get it to sit in your lap?"</p><p>"So sleepy, My Lady. Can't hear a thing."</p><p>The bed trembled with her laughter. "How did you explain that cat scratch on your face to your civilian friends? Did you tell them you got mauled by a stray on the way back from <em> collège? </em>"</p><p>"Hmph."</p><p>And Ladybug laughed, and laughed, and laughed.</p><p>This anecdote had always been a favourite of hers. If she'd known the truth, that he said a bunch of fans had mobbed him and one had accidentally scratched him with an acrylic nail, she would've been wheezing for breath, and probably would've repeated this story ten times more.</p><p><em> Beau gosse, </em> she might've teased. <em> God, you're just so famous, aren't you, beau gosse? Can't take a single step outside without making girls go crazy </em>. And she would've laughed some more.</p><p>The bed stopped shaking as her laughter petered out. She'd fallen and rolled onto her back at some point, the duvet folded beneath her arms, her face up to the ceiling. Ladybug sighed. She pressed her cheek to the pillow and looked at him.</p><p>"My kitty," she said, and touched his face. "Always trying to impress me."</p><p>He didn't know whether to be embarrassed or enamoured. With Ladybug, he was always both.</p><p>"But you know what?" She was back on her side, now, but much closer than before. The duvet no longer separated them — it harboured them both beneath the same white square. His skin tingled where it touched hers. "I've always thought you were cool. Right from the very beginning."</p><p>"Y-you did?"</p><p>"Yeah. Because you were honest. And people aren't usually brave enough to be honest." She glanced down at his lips. "Remember how you'd say it so easily? When I'd ask you for an opinion and you'd so casually say you'd be biased because you're in love with me?"</p><p>"I don't actually remember that. Wow, embarrassing. For me, I mean."</p><p>Ladybug shook her head. "It was the best thing I'd ever heard. You always said it how it was. You always treated people's feelings like facts. <em> That's </em> cool."</p><p>"How do you feel?" he said. "Give me a new fact to work with."</p><p>"I'm naked in bed with you. Isn't that enough?"</p><p>He embraced her, burying his face into her neck. "Tell me."</p><p>Ladybug laughed. She kissed his temple, and her hand worked its way through his tangled hair.</p><p>"I feel like I want to stay like this forever," she said. "And that I want you to be my boyfriend. Because I love you."</p><p>Creeping his hand up each of her vertebrae, he put his fingers in her hair, too. </p><p>"Well," he said. "I'll be your boyfriend. And I love you, too. But the hotel manager will kick us out if we're not out by tomorrow morning."</p><p>He could hear the smile in her voice. "Okay. I want to stay with <em> you </em> forever. Better?"</p><p>Chat Noir kissed her shoulder. "Better."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tumblr: rosekasa</p></blockquote></div></div>
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